Coyotes cruise to 85-71 win over Tabor
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

HILLSBORO – Kansas Wesleyan used a suffocating defensive stand as part of a 34-8 run to end the first half as the Coyotes cruised to a 85-71 win over Tabor College on Thursday night in the Tabor Gym.

Tabor would lead 20-15 with 11:58 to go in the first half, thanks to five straight points, before Wesleyan’s offense, led by Mychal Henderson, and the Coyote defense would take over.

Willie McCarty would score with 11:36 left, and Henderson would hit the first of his back-to-back triples with 10:45 to as the Coyotes would erase the Bluejay lead. Henderson’s three on Wesleyan’s next possession would give the Coyotes the lead back for good.

Romero Hood would give Wesleyan its first double-digit lead with 7:44 left at 33-22, but a rebound and score from Orson Thomas would get the Bluejays back within nine on their next possession.

Eric Hammond would score with 5:36 left, sparking Wesleyan’s offense to score 13 of the next 14 points of the game to take its biggest lead of the half at 21, 46-25, when Henderson would hit one of two foul shots after Tabor coach Micah Ratzlaff would be called for a technical foul.

Milen Brown would send Wesleyan (9-9, 7-2)  into the break up 21 on a three with ten seconds to go before the half as the Coyotes would take a 49-28 lead into halftime.

Hood would give Wesleyan its biggest lead of the night at 27 at the 18:21 mark, making it 57-30. Tabor would get back within 21, before the Coyotes would extend their lead back out to 26 on a bucket from McCarty with 14:12 left at 66-40.

Tabor (6-13, 3-6) would then get a nice offensive push to get as close as 12 points with 5:23 left. Aaron Whitelaw would get a free throw to start the run as the Bluejays would capitalize on six KWU turnovers during an 18-4 run to get the deficit to 12 on a bucket from Thomas.

The Coyotes wasted no time in closing the door on Tabor, pushing the lead back out to 83-64 with 2:11 left on a pair of free throws from Trey Sims.

Henderson led all scorers with 27 points, connecting on 10-of-12 shooting, while McCarty added 15 and Hammond added ten for Wesleyan, who broke out of its recent shooting slump, connecting for 32-of-59 shots for 54.2 percent in the game. Hammond led the Coyotes with seven boards, while Henderson added six to help the Coyotes win the rebounding battle 38-31. Tony Boone would have seven assists to lead the Coyotes.

Thomas led Tabor with 14, while Jordan Funk pitched in ten for the Bluejays, who shot 21-of-53 from the field for 39.6 percent. Zach Vaneslow led Tabor with eight rebounds.

Wesleyan returns home to start a four-game homestand on Saturday, as they host Ottawa, with tipoff scheduled for about 7 p.m., following the women’s contest, from Muir Gym.

-- KWU SI --